by Meaghan & Marianne

High winds and a strong current did not stop our patch reef research group from collecting data this past Friday. A shift in plans from going out on Kenny T resulted in a group bike ride to Fourth Hole beach. There, the eight of us geared up with our masks, snorkels and dive slates. As soon as we made it to the reef, we began to record the species we had just learned in class. Only three weeks into the program, we are able to identify over 50 fish species! A few of our favorites are the Queen triggerfish, the doctorfish, the spotted goatfish, and the black grouper. Just two feet from the bottom we were able to see all of these fish. An hour flew by and it was already time for us to head back to campus. However before we left, Matt surprised us with a tasty treat, blondies! It was the perfect end to the perfect snorkel.